Elbow Wins the 2008 Mercury Prize for The Seldom Seen Kid

By: Spacelab Research Staff

The Nationwide Mercury Prize has named its 2008 winner, and it is none other than Elbow. The Manchester band was awarded the prize at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday, September 9th. It was awarded for their album The Seldom Seen Kid.

The prize named their Shortlist earlier this year, with a who's who of British and Irish artists (as seen by the prize peeps). There was a few surprises this year, with the inclusion of some established heavyweights alongside side projects.

Gruff Rhys side project Neon Neon was on the list, Radiohead's In Rainbows was on the list, and even British Sea Power and The Last Shadow Puppets.

The 12 nominees were originally announced at a ceremony at Covent Garden in London. They were chosen from an original group of 240 artists, known as the Long List.

Last year the award went to Klaxons for the album Myths of the Near Future.